Installed new DVD Burner / Now CD Burner won't work

[Evenflow]

I recently installed a new dvd burner in my computer. I already have a CD burner in it which was read under  the E drive. The dvd burner reads D drive, but now I no longer have an E drive with my cd burner. How do I get it back installed ?

[Ironman]

You have to go to your computer's BIOS settings and change the settings of the new CD drive and change it settings from a "Master" drive to a "Slave" drive. "Master" meaning primary and "Slave" secondary. BIOS stands for "basic input/output system" and it's how your computer interfaces with the hardware. You can enter your computer BIOS during start-up using a specific keyboard key like "F11" or "F8" but the key varies on different motherboards(which is the main hardware that controls the crucial aspects of the computer) based on their manufacturer . If you could provide the specifications of your computer I could provide a step by step tutorial based on what type of motherboard you have to change you CD Drive settings.

[patio]

The master/slave settings are NOT controlled in the BIOS so you can safely ignore the above advice...
You need to double check how the drives are connected and jumpered...and let us know whether they are IDE drives or SATA...

If IDE they need to be jumpered and connected as follows if on the same ribbon cable:

MBoard============================================Slave===========Master.

Let us know...

[Ironman]

The master/slave settings are NOT controlled in the BIOS so you can safely ignore the above advice...
You need to double check how the drives are connected and jumpered...and let us know whether they are IDE drives or SATA...

If IDE they need to be jumpered and connected as follows if on the same ribbon cable:

MBoard============================================Slave===========Master.

Let us know...

My bad I made the post hastily, the BIOS can tell info on which drive is slave or master, to change it you have to physically do that:

IDE:
http://freepctech.com/pc/001/installing_ide_devices.shtml

SATA
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-us&name=install-troubleshoot-sata-non-mac&vgnextoid=2b089d2c3c90e010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

[mroilfield]

Ok I didn't know that CD and DVD drives required a slave/master type set up. I guess you learn something new every day.

[Evenflow]

Thank you guys for your help. I'm not an expert on computers, but from your suggestions it looks like my connections are correct. I already had an NEC DVD burner in my computer that went bad and I replaced it with a samsung DVD burner. So basically I just swaped them out and made the same connections that they were in. It's just that before my CD player/burner worked which showed it on an E: drive and now it doesn't show an E: drive and it won't work. The DVD burner works fine though and shows it as normal on the D: drive.

[Evenflow]

Like I said, I'm not a computer whiz but the connections look like IDE according to the illustration that was posted. Thanks.

[Computer_Commando]

Verifying the CD-ROM cables are correctly connected

[Salmon Trout]

Ok I didn't know that CD and DVD drives required a slave/master type set up. I guess you learn something new every day.

All IDE devices need this. Two masters or two slaves on the same cable will cause a problem.

[Evenflow]

Why didn't I have the same problem before I swaped out DVD burners ? It started happening when I installed the new one. Same connections.

[Computer_Commando]

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

[Evenflow]

Thanks Computer_Commando. So by installing the new DVD burner it affected the cable ribbon to be outdated ? My computer is an older model Dell which I bought in 2004 with the CD & DVD player/burners installed by Dell to my order specs. when I bought it.

[OpenSource]

I doubt that the ribbon is oudated.  Do your drives show up in the BIOS or do they just not show up in windows?

[Evenflow]

I'm a half-wit with a lot of computer stuff. How do I get to the BIOS to check that ?

[OpenSource]

When you start your computer up, it will say (press something to enter setup).  Usually it's F1 or F2 or DEL.  Once you're in your BIOS, it will indicate everything that's connected to the different interfaces on your motherboard; IDE0 or IDE1 with a bunch of numbers next to them but you will probably see 3 things:  Your HDD, your CD drive and your DVD drive if you have it connected right.  If you only see 2 devices connected to all of your IDE interfaces, then you have a problem with your jumpers or your cable.  I would put all your jumpers to cable select (CS) if you don't see the devices and make SURE everything is plugged in right...the cable, the power, the jumper.